Iron Hill Brewery coming to Rehoboth Beach

Iron Hill Brewery & Restaurant plans to open its third Delaware restaurant in Rehoboth Beach by the summer of 2018.

Kevin Finn, Mark Edelson and Kevin Davies, owners of the 21-year-old Wilmington-based chain of brewpubs, are building a new location at 19791 Coastal Highway (Del. 1) in Rehoboth, just south of Tanger Outlets. 

Construction begins in June at Coastal Station on Del. 1 near Holland Glade Road. The site also includes plans for a Royal Farms store and another retail shop. It had been the home of the Tomato Sunshine Garden Center & Farm Market. 

“Coastal Station will be Delaware’s most premier real estate development and we couldn’t have asked for a better tenant than Iron Hill," said developer Todd Bariglio in a prepared statement.

It will be the 14th planned location on the East Coast for Iron Hill, known for its hand-crafted beers and food that pairs well with them.

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In addition to the flagship Newark operation, which opened in 1996, Iron Hill's other Delaware restaurant is at the Wilmington Riverfront. Iron Hill locations also are sprinkled throughout the Pennsylvania and New Jersey suburbs.

“As we continue to grow, we also wanted to deepen our commitment to our Delaware roots,” said President and co-founder Kevin Finn. 

Finn says he has been looking for an opportunity to build a restaurant and brewery in Sussex County for some time.

"My father has been pestering me for the last 10 years," he said by phone on Wednesday, laughing. Finn's father is a longtime Lewes resident.

"We thought Rehoboth was the best spot for us to be in. There's so much stuff going on there." 

Finn said the new site still has to be developed. "Our goal is summer of 2018" to open, he said.

The Rehoboth building will look somewhat similar to Iron Hill's Wilmington Riverfront location, but it will not be two stories. He said there will be outdoor seating in the front of the building, and the partners plan to brew beers on site.

"A lot of our customers up this way [in New Castle County], come down to the beach, so this is going to be great for us and them. Our staff is also looking forward to it," Finn said.

Iron Hill Brewery & Restaurant has been expanding in recent years, and in 2016 the partners received an equity investment from A&M Capital Opportunities to help further grow the company. Another Iron Hill restaurant is planned in 2018 in Center City Philadelphia. 

Finn, Edelson and Davies are among the state's earliest proponents of modern craft breweries. They founded Iron Hill on Newark's Main Street, near the University of Delaware's main campus, shortly after Sam Calagione, owner of the pioneering Dogfish Head Craft Brewery, opened his location in 1995 in Rehoboth Beach.

The Dogfish Head brewery has since moved to Milton, and the restaurant, now in a new building, remains on Rehoboth Avenue. Earlier this month, Calagione was named the country's Outstanding Wine, Spirits, or Beer Professional by the James Beard Foundation at its annual awards ceremony. A Beard medal is considered one of the country's most prestigious food and beverage honors.

Iron Hill, named after the historic Revolutionary War landmark in Delaware, where Gen. George Washington battled the British, will be one of seven other breweries operating in southern Delaware.

It has won 45 medals from at the Great American Beer Festival and earned the coveted “World Champion Brewpub” title three times at the World Beer Cup.

Contact Patricia Talorico at (302) 324-2861 or ptalorico@delawareonline.com and on Twitter @pattytalorico